Me
Pronunciation
- UK enPR: mÄ“, IPA: /miË/
- US enPR: mē, IPA: /mi/
- Rhymes: -iË
Origin
From Middle English me, from Old English mÄ“ ("me", originally dative, but later also accusative.), from Proto-Germanic *miz ("me"), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)me-, *(e)me-n- ("me"). Cognate with Scots me ("me"), North Frisian me ("me"), Dutch me, mij ("me"), German mir ("me", dative.), Icelandic mér ("me", dative.), Latin mÄ“ ("me"), Ancient Greek μΠ(me), á¼Î¼Î (emé, "me"), Sanskrit , (mÄm, "me").
Full definition of me
Pronoun
me
(first-person singular pronoun, referring to the speaker)- As the direct object of a verb.Can you hear me?
- (obsolete) Myself; as a reflexive direct object of a verb.
- 1819, John Keats, ,And I awoke, and found me here.
- As the object of a preposition.Come with me.
- As the indirect object of a verb.He gave me this.
- (US, colloquial) Myself; as a reflexive indirect object of a verb; the ethical dative.
- 1993 April, Harper's Magazine,When I get to college, I’m gonna get me a white Nissan Sentra.
- (colloquial) As the complement of the copula (“be†or “isâ€).It wasn't me.
- (Australia, British, New Zealand, colloquial) My; preceding a noun, marking ownership.
- a. 1918 Wilfred Owen, The Letter, in 1994, Douglas Kerr (editor), The Works of Wilfred Owen, page 54,There don′t seem much to say just now.
(Yer what? Then don′t, yer ruddy cow!
And give us back me cigarette!) - (colloquial, with "and") As the subject of a verb.Me and my friends played a game.
- (nonstandard, not with "and") As the subject of a verb.
- 1844, Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, Vol. II,One of them, whose sobriquet was Big-headed Blackboy, was stretched out before the fire, and no answer could be obtained from him, but a drawling repetition, in grunts of displeasure, of “Bel (not) me want to go.â€
- 2005, The Brothers Chaps, Teen Girl Squad Issue 10 (cartoon), part ofStrong Bad: Me gotta see that again.
Usage notes
Me is traditionally described as the accusative pronoun, meaning it should be used as the object of verbs and prepositions, while the nominative pronoun I should be used as the subject of verbs. However, “accusative†pronouns are widely used as the subject of verbs in colloquial speech if they are accompanied by and, for example, "me and her are friends". This usage is traditionally considered incorrect, and "she and I are friends" would be the preferred construction.
Using me as the lone subject (without and) of a verb (e.g. "me want", "me like") is a feature of various types of both pidgin English and that of infant English-learners, and is sometimes used by speakers of standard English for jocular effect (e.g. "me likee", "me wantee").
Although in the spoken version of some dialects 'me' is commonly used as a possessive, in writing, speakers of these dialects usually use my.
Some prescriptivists object to the use of me following the verb to be, as in “It wasn’t meâ€. The phrase “It was not I†is considered to be correct, though this may be seen as extreme and used for jocular effect.